The Life of Gaia

CHAPTER 31: A Thousand Nightmares

We had only been in the air for a few minutes when the ground and sky were engulfed in darkness, suddenly disappearing. Nothing more could be seen of the landscape.

Zantas slowed for a few seconds before resuming at his usual speed, and I clung to him, pulling myself up with my arm. Seeing the Divine Castle on Fantastracta had been disorienting enough, and I would have gladly done without another surprise.

Moving through that black space didn't appeal to me: if it weren't for the wind I felt on my face, I would never have said we were moving.

"Wait, please, stop for a moment," I begged the flying sign. That one obeyed after a few meters.

°What's going on?°

"This darkness scares me. Are we sure this is normal?"

For some reason, Zantas seemed more than certain that there was nothing to fear, but he helped me anyway.

To prove to me that everything was all right he retraced his steps: as if by magic, the yellow horizon and the phosphorescent band in the sky reappeared. I realized that he was right, and that we were evidently just moving from one area to another, just as had happened between the first two. Still, the fact that I could not see the ground still destabilized me.

°Can we keep going?° he asked when I was reassured. I confirmed with a nod.

"Thank you for caring." He hinted with his gaze that he would do it again if necessary. I gave him another sincere smile as we set off again.

I was keeping the map tucked in the edge of my pants, and I had decided that I would not take it out except when it was really needed, given what had happened at Aquarius Age. I remembered that the next destination was called 'Incubia' - which made me worry not a little, its name being related to the word 'nightmare' in a too obvious way - so I told myself that this must be the area we were entering. And that darkness was its main characteristic.

We flew for quite some time in total blackness without seeing any traces of light or the terrain below us, following map directions that we looked at the bare minimum. The only certainty was that at some point the light of the next area would break through, which would be the last to separate us from CPU City. Otherwise, total darkness (an expression that fits like a glove).

That feeling of suspension reminded me of my encounter with Elmerninis before I was born. It had happened so long ago now-even more than a lifetime. Perhaps I feared that at any moment that purple and orange eye might appear in front of me again, grazing me with its finger like a pet. Fortunately, Zantas was with me, and nothing like that could happen to me. Or at least, so I hoped.

It looked as if we would continue in that void for much longer, when at one point the way was obstructed by a giant wall that was lost in the void above and below us. It was tall and narrow, rust-colored, and somewhere higher up it generated a clock-like mechanical ticking. We had not seen it approach: it had only appeared.

Zantas lifted his gaze, trying to see what was causing that sound. From the small body he released a jet of light that rose upward for several dozen meters, dimly illuminating the long reddish wall that seemed to go on forever. Then, having reached a certain height, it exploded in a flash, revealing what lay at its summit.

On the shiny surface of a white clock, long black hands moved jerkily first forward, then backward. Attached to the largest hand was a kind of tube, which moved it by pulling it from side to side. It was only when the light exploded and the tube retracted to cover two slit-shaped eyes attached to a headless torso that I realized it was a paw.

Whatever it was, it emitted a hissing sound before being swallowed again by the darkness.

I shuddered at the thought that it might have seen us, and gave my companion a firm tug to let him know. That one hesitated, contemplating the various options available to him within moments. In the end, he decided to point downward and continue on foot to avoid invisible obstacles - assuming there was, any ground to walk on.